23/12/2022
It goes on & needs calling out. Long post but worth the read.
One of the most common marketing/sales approaches in the dog training world is the demo dog. Whatâs a demo dog? A demo dog is the trainerâs personal dog or dogs. Theyâre TYPICALLY carefully selected (solid genetics, clear headed, stable), working breeds (breeds like Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds, Border Collies, Rottweilers, Dobermans etc.). They also live with a dog trainer 24/7.
And hereâs where the sleight-of-hand comes in: The dog trainer has their highly trained, specially bred dog perform all manner of amazing looking feats. They might do this in videos on their websites, videos on social media, or in public places like parks.
The goal: To have you believe that your dog, with whatever bloodlines and baggage, and your personal skills and time available to dedicate to trainingâwill achieve the same or similar results. Now, they may not say this outright, but thatâs the message theyâre hoping youâll sell/tell yourself.
So yeah, even if youâve got a seriously anxious, terribly fearful, highly reactive, dog or human aggressive dog, and youâre barely able to walk your dog or have guests over without full meltdownsâyou too can have this magic dog theyâre demoing.
Hereâs the deal. If youâre a dog trainer, and you have solid dog, especially a working breed dog, having it highly trained isnât really a lot to crow about. You should be able to achieve this, if thatâs a goal. But to dupe owners into believing that their messy dog, and their messy relationship, and their messy training ability will yield the same results, is a seriously questionable marketing approach, and if youâre honest, not exactly an ethical one.
That said, if youâre honest, and if you explain all the details, and arenât playing some BS shell game with them, thatâs fine. If youâre up front and explain that what you have is the byproduct of countless hours of work on your skills, your dog, and LIKELY the dog you started with being solid, thatâs cool. But to imply, even tacitly, that they can or should expect something similar, unless they have something similarâin all areasâis disingenuous to say the least.
Wanna show folks the joys of training and whatâs possible? Wanna show them what you accomplished with a less than perfect situation? Great. I love it. Just be honest. Donât BS your clients. They deserve better.
As for me, hereâs my demo dog. You wonât find videos of me and him showing off his fancy training. Instead, youâll find videos of messy looking client dogs; you know, the kind regular folks tend to have, and tend to need help with. These are the folks I serve, so I show them a reality that reflects their own. The only demo dogs I show are my clientâs. Because my dogs, and my experience arenât theirs.
P.S. If you ARE doing sport, protection, detection, agility, or some other activity where your dogâs abilities are directly applicable to your clientâs needs, then by all means show âem. But let them know your results donât guarantee theirs.
P.P.S. Please do not feel compelled to comment about the dog you got off the street, or the shelter, and rehabbed and is now amazing. I understand there are exceptions. But, individual experiences (exceptions) donât equal universal ones. What Iâm primarily talking about here arenât the exceptions (unless youâre presenting that individual reality as universal), Iâm primarily talking about the trainers who knowingly compare apples to oranges, or a Ferrari to a Miata, and pretend theyâre the same in order to get a sale.
P.P.P.S. Any comments with snarky, nasty, lazy (not actually reading or thinking, yet emotionally highly reactive), will be deleted. We all know what Iâm talking about. Ethics. If youâre ethical, youâll have zero issues with this. If not, Iâll expect you to be upset.